Brown Rice Risotto
The latest
Whole Foods Recipe Contest is all about breakfast and whole grains. The weather is starting to get warmer but decided to create a warming healthful breakfast for the last vestiges of cool weather. This is not a quick on the go sort of breakfast (unless you make it the night before), it takes a good 30-40 minutes to cook but when dealing with whole grains you expect to take a little longer to prepare. I used short grain brown rice, milk (almond milk works great also), dates to sweeten and topped with some maple sweetened toasted walnuts. I love risotto and breakfast risotto is wonderful, You can easily make this the night before (thats what do) and either serve cold or heat it. No added sugar, whole grain brown rice is a healthful way to start your day!
Serves: 2
2/1/2-3 cups milk or almond milk
1/2 cup brown arborio or short grain rice
3-4 medjool dates pitted and chopped The dates really sweeten this use less for lightly sweetened risotto.
2 tbs butter (One tbs to saute dates and the other tbs when risotto is finished)
pinch of salt
Garnish
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tbs maple syrup
Add milk to medium saucepan and bring to simmer on med/low heat or heat in microwave for 2-3 minutes to get it hot. Place butter in saute pan, add chopped dates and cook until softened, add rice and saute until rice is coated with the butter approximately 3 minutes.
Slowly add the milk a cup at a time to the rice, stirring until milk is absorbed and adding more until all of it is used. Add the remaining tbs of butter. Rice will be toothsome, total cooking time is about 30-40 minutes NOTE: I didn’t add any additional sweeteners, the dates did the job for me, add a little sweetener of your choice if you like. I always have extra liquid ready when making risotto, the whole grain brown rice takes longer to cook and may need more liquid, I needed the full 2 1/2 cups of milk.
While risotto is cooking, pre heat your oven to 350, line small sheet pan with parchment, place walnuts and maple syrup in a small bowl and toss to combine, spread on sheet pan and toast in the oven for 10 minutes or just until you can smell the nuts. Remove from oven and give a rough chop.
To serve: Spoon risotto into bowl, sprinkle some of the nuts on top, add fresh fruit also, I like blueberries.
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